The Commerce Department issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on polyethylene retail carrier bags from Thailand (A-549-821). The only individually reviewed company in the review, Trinity Pac, failed to cooperate and so was preliminarily assigned an adverse facts available (AFA) AD rate, Commerce said. The company had filed for dissolution and liquidation during the review, but its former corporate officers didn't acknowledge Commerce's questionnaires, it said. The agency also found that TPN FlexPac had no reviewable shipments during the period of review. These preliminary results are not in effect. Commerce may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for these companies.
The antidumping duty investigation of diffusion-annealed, nickel-plated flat-rolled steel from Japan is set to continue, following the International Trade Commission’s preliminary finding that imports of the merchandise is injuring U.S. industry. The ITC voted 5-1 in favor of an injury finding. The Commerce Department initiated its investigation April 23 (see 13042217).
AT&T, Comcast and Google are among the companies with ad dollars supporting online piracy, said a University of Georgia preliminary study. It was detailed in a blog post Wednesday by David Lowery, musician and lecturer at UGA’s Terry College of Business (http://bit.ly/ZPNHHC). AT&T, Comcast and Google did not respond to our requests for comment by our deadline.
Dish Network owned $592 million in “derivative financial instruments” connected to Sprint Nextel’s stock as of May 1, along with $75 million in Sprint shares as of March 31, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/12hmOvS). Dish made a preliminary bid to buy 68 percent ownership in Sprint for $25.5 billion (CD April 16 p1); Sprint is still considering that offer, but its shareholders are set to vote June 12 on an earlier $20.1 billion bid from SoftBank that would give it 70 percent ownership. Dish said it also owned $950 million in Clearwire debt at the end of Q1. Clearwire shareholders plan to vote May 21 on whether to accept Sprint’s bid to buy remaining ownership of the company for about $2.97 per share, for an estimated total of $2.2 billion; Dish later made a counteroffer of $3.30 per share for the Clearwire stock.
The Commerce Department issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on frontseating service valves from China (A-570-933). The agency preliminarily found that Zhejiang DunAn Hetian Metal Co., Ltd. had no reviewable transactions during the period of review. The other reviewed company, Sanhua, was assigned a preliminary AD rate. These preliminary results are not in effect. Commerce may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for these companies.
Dish Network owned $592 million in “derivative financial instruments” connected to Sprint Nextel’s stock as of May 1, along with $75 million in Sprint shares as of March 31, the company said in a filing with the SEC released Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/12hmOvS). Dish made a preliminary bid to buy 68 percent ownership in Sprint for $25.5 billion; Sprint is still considering that offer, but its shareholders are set to vote June 12 on an earlier $20.1 billion bid from SoftBank that would give it 70 percent ownership. Dish said it also owned $950 million in Clearwire debt at the end of Q1. Clearwire shareholders plan to vote May 21 on whether to accept Sprint’s bid to buy remaining ownership of the company for about $2.97 per share, for an estimated total of $2.2 billion; Dish later made a counteroffer of $3.30 per share for the Clearwire stock.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is preparing to introduce a la carte video legislation, his spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday. The bill would compel cable and satellite operators to offer consumers a la carte pricing or lose their rights to the compulsory license to carry broadcast programming, industry officials told us. They said McCain staffers met with cable and broadcast lobbyists earlier this week to discuss the legislation ahead of its introduction. NAB and NCTA declined to comment.
The Commerce Department published notices in the May 8 Federal Register on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on magnesium metal from China (A-570-896). The agency made no changes from its preliminary results, continuing to find sole respondent Tianjin Magnesium International, Co., Ltd. had no reviewable shipments during the period of review. TMI will continue to receive the AD rate last assigned to it, Commerce said.
Online TV service Aereo wants a federal court to stop the threat of additional lawsuits from broadcasters as it moves into new jurisdictions by ruling that its system of tiny, individual antennas doesn’t violate copyright laws, according to documents filed Monday. Already in the midst of a lawsuit brought in New York by major broadcasters including Fox and CBS, Aereo told the U.S. District Court in New York that it plans to expand to Boston later this month, and that CBS has said it will sue Aereo again there if it does expand.